“Running sets my soul on fire!” - JET FUEL JEN

In 2016 I ran Nagoya woman’s marathon and ran an Olympic Qualifying
time of 2.37.12. Unfortunately due to a chronic knee injury which led to
surgery I was unable to go to Olympics.

In April 2017 I made my ultra marathon debut at Two Oceans
marathon 56km. I was the first South African and second overall in my first
ever ultra marathon. I was also the first KZN athlete to be the first South
African in 15 years.

JCMy name is Jenna. Running is my passion, sport and sanity. I competed as a
semi-professional athlete for 7 years, in between having 3 children, running
my own photography business and raising three young daughters. After the
birth of my third daughter in June 2012 (“babies done, now to run”), I
focused on improving my running to achieve certain goals important to me
as an athlete. One of these was to represent my country. To do so I needed
to take my running and training to the next level. I am now running
professionally full time.

In February 2013 I was selected to represent South Africa at the IAAF World
Half Marathon Championships held in Copenhagen on 29 March 2014,
where I ran a personal best time of 74.19 and placed 47th overall.
As a distance runner I compete over distances ranging from 5 – 56km.
However as my career progresses I intend extending this range to include
the ultimate human race, the Comrades marathon, and believe that my
success in the shorter formats will translate well into the ultra marathon
distance.

In July 2017 I ran Mauritius half marathon, won it and
broke the record there. On the 6 August 2017 I represented South Africa at
the World Athletics Champs in London for the marathon and two months
after that I successfully defended my Gun Run 21km title for the third year
in a row.

"My primary goal is to become the leading South African female distance
runner at the Two Oceans and Comrades Ultra marathons. I also have my eye set on 2020 Olympics in Tokyo." - Jenna Challenor